Means for controlling and indicating the supply of electric energy.



N0. 643,228. Patented Feb. I3, 1900.

c. R. LOUBEBY MEANS FOR CONTROLLING AND INDICATING THE SUPPLY OF-ELECTRIC ENERGY.

(Application filed May 23, 1899.\

(No Model.) -3 Sheets-Sheet ms NORRIS Firms co. moraufuon wnsnmmom c. c.

No. 643,228. Patented Feb. [3, I900.

c. R; LOUBERY.

MEANS FOR CONTROLLING AND INDICATING THE SUPPLY OF ELECTRIC ENERGY.

{Application filed May 23, 1899.\ (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2,

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m: NORRIS PETERS c0v FHOTO-LITNO.. WASHINGTON, D c.

No. 643,228. Patented Feb. l3, I900. C. R. LOUBERY.

MEANS FOR CONTROLLING AND INDICATING THE SUPPLY OF ELECTRIC ENERGY.

(Application filed May 23, 1899.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

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UNITED STATES EATENT @FFICE.

CESAR RENE LOUBERY, OF PARIS, FRANCE, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, EM- MANUEL FRANOOIS, AND HENRY; KUNKELMANN, OF SAME PLACE.

MEANS FOR CONTROLLING AND INDICATING THE SUPPLY OF ELECTRIC ENERGY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 643,228, dated February 13, 1900.

Application filed May 23,1899. Serial No. 717,926- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CESAR RENE LOUBERY, a resident of Paris, in the Republic of France, have invented new and useful Improvements in or Relating to Means for Controlling and Indicating the Supply of Electrical Energy, which is fully set forth in the following speciiication.

In a previous application-filed February 17, 1899, Serial No. 705,790, means have been described permitting the application of a changing or variable tariff or rate of charge to fixed or single tariff meters. The present invention relates to improvements of the same kind which have been devised with a view of the variable tariff being applied to apparatus which without being meters in the proper sense of the word are nevertheless employed with a view to'the sale of electric energysuch, for instance, as regulators of intensity, indicators of rebate, or indicators of maximum charge.

To render as clear as possible the following explanation, the invention is illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying drawin gs, showing an arrangement adapted for the application of the variable tariff to the abovementioned apparatus.

Figure 1 is a view showing the general arrangements of a regulator of intensity. Figs. l" and 1 are similar views showing different arrangements for effecting the application of a variable tariff. Fig. 2 illustrates the application of the variable tariff to the regulator of intensity shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows schematically the general arrangement of a maximum-charge indicator. Fig. 4 shows one application of a variable tariff to the maximum-charge indicator represented in Fig. 3.

The application of the variable tariyj to intensity-regulators.These apparatus are employed in the sale of electricity by contract and are to a certain extent controllers of the contract. They oblige the customer to keep within the limits of his contract and prevent him from using fraudulently or inadvertently a larger quantity of electricity than what forms the basis of the contract.

The different types of all intensity-regulators consist in principle of a balance-beam a o b, Fig. 1, made to pivot on a point 0 and actuated by two vertical forces acting in the same direction, the one dynamic and constant, the other electric and variable. The first vertical force is produced by a spring r, attached to one arm of the lever, the tension of which spring can be regulated by the screw 1;. The spring may be replaced by a weightp, which is also represented in the accompanying drawings. This Weight can be adjusted longitudinally along the arm 0 b of the balance-lever, which may be provided for that purpose with a screw-thread. The second force is produced by the attraction of a solenoid s, inserted in the circuit of the customer. This solenoid attracts a rod or core 15, fixed to the other arm a o of the balance-lever. It is evident that the same efiect may be obtained by replacing the solenoid by an electromagnet inserted into the circuit and attracting an armature connected to the said arm a 0 of the balance-lever.

A metallic point or projection c on the firstmentioned arm 0 b of the balance-lever is adapted to enter a mercury-cup 9 when the arm is lowered by the spring or weight. If we now suppose the principal line to be represented by Z Z and the line of the customer by m m, it is easy to see that the solenoid, the spring-controlled arm 0 b of the balance, the mercury-contact c, and the mercury-cup g are inserted in series in the circuit passing through the lamps n n of the customer. Of course it should be understood that the balance 0 b is of conducting metal and that all parts of the apparatus through which the current is to pass are electrically insulated. The spring r (or the counterweight p) is so adjusted that the point 0 dips into the mercury so long as the intensity of the current does not pass beyond a certain number of aniperes fixed in the contract, but that as soon as'this intensity limit is passed the solenoid s attracts its end a 0 of the balance, and thereby Withdraws the point 0 out of contact with the mercury. The moment this action takes place the current is interrupted, the solenoid sis no longer energized, and the spring 1' or the counterweight p reintroduces the point a into the mercury, the current is reestablished only to be broken again by the solenoids, and so on. This produces a numher of ignitions and extinctions of the lamps, the effect of which is very painful to the eye, thus forcing the customer to put out one or more lamps in order to reduce the intensity to within the limits of the contract. These devices which allow the customer to have as many lamps as he likes without being able to light a number greater than ccrresponds to the intensity stipulated for in the contractwithout being suddenly deprived of light can easily be arranged for the application of the variable tariff by means of the following arrangements, which form the object of the present application. In this case the contract with the customer consists in letting him have. the use of w amperes at the time when the current is dearest on account of the greater demand and 3 amperes at a time when such demand is less, and consequently the current is cheaper. Of course it is under stood that y will be greater than 00. To obtain this result, different means may be employed.

First. The system of measuring the intensity can be employed by actuating, by means of currents sent from a central station along a special secondary line ff, an electromagnet 6 so as to shunt the solenoid sin such a manner that the solenoid is then only traversed by a certain part of the principal current, Fig. 1. The shunting not being carried out, it-wiil be understood that the device should be so adjust-ed that the solenoid interrupts the current at the lowest intensitysay, for instance, intensity cc. The shunt-circuit is adapted to be opened and closed by a switch consisting of two mercury-cups 14 and 15, into which projections 16 and 17 on armature 18 are adapted to dip when said armature is attracted by electromagnet e, the latter being energized by current on line When the shunt is accomplished, the solenoid will not be traversed by the total intensity, but by a fraction only determined by the shunt. It follows, therefore, that the intensity passing through the line may exceed the value a: without the solenoid breaking the circuit, and the shunt should be so adjusted that the solenoid only interrupts the current when the intensity of the current passing through the line reaches the value Second. The current passing through the solenoids may also be varied by placing a rheostat in derivation on the principal current, which rheostat will be actuated by the currents sent from the central station, an arrangement which will allow the adoption of more than two tariifs and the convenience for the customer to use varying amperes 00 g .2, according to the hours of the day. Referring to Fig. 1 with the lineff I connect the solenoid 6 which at each impulse sent over said line from thecontrolling-station reciprocates the rod 19, (the movement of which is limited by stop 18,) and the pawl 20, carried thereby, engages ratchet-wheel 22 turning the same the distance of one tooth. This ratchet-wheel is fastened to a disk which bears a metallic ring 23, having a contact 26, adapted to bear against and travel over a series of metallic sectors 24, which are respectively connected with resistance-coil 25 at different points. Ring 23 is always in connection with solenoid 8 through conductor 10, while the inner end of resistance-coil 25 is connected with lever on 0 b by conductor 11. Current from the main line Z Z passes by the branch through spools, thence through wire 10 to ring 23, contact 26 to one of the sectors 24, through the coil 25 or part thereof to wire 11, to arm 0 b of the lever, and back to the main line. It will thus be seen that the intensity of the current traversing the spool .9 may be readily varied by the sending of impulses over the line ff.

Third. Thefollowingarrangementmayalso be adopted, Fig. 2: One arm of the balancelever (t 0 is attracted by two solenoids 8 8, which attract cores or bars I. i, connected to said arm. These two solenoids are independent of each other, and according as the current of the'customer passes through one or through the other a limitation of the intensity to m or y amperes is obtained. An electric receiver e, mounted on the linefof the central station, actuates a lever 1 for supplying the current to either one or the other of the solenoids, provided, for example,with two mercury-cups 2 and 3 and two contact-arms 4: and 5 on either side of the pivot of the lever, which arms, according to the position of the lever 1, will be inserted in the corresponding mercury-cups. The principal line Z being connected with the balance-lever 1, the current can thus pass either through the arm 4: or through the arm 5. If, for example, it passes through the arm 4, as represented in Fig. 2, which is immersed in the mercury-cup, the current passes through this vessel into the solenoid s and thence through the apparatus to the lamps of the customer. If, on the contrary, the lever 1 is so arranged that the other arm 5 dips into its mercury-cup 3, then the current no longer passes through the first solenoid s, but through the second solenoid s.

From the above description it will be seen that the current passing through the line ff of the central station will modify the position of the pivoted lever 1, and consequently will modify the maximum intensity, beyond which the customer cannot pass.

Rebate-indicator or maximum-charge indicat0r.-These devices are used in what is called the rational method of charging, applied for the first time at Brighton, which can be described as follows:

' Let T represent the number of shillings to be paid per hecto-watt hour according to the higher tariff. Let t be the number of shillings to be paid per hecto-watt hour according to the lower tariff. Let VJ be the maximum number of hecto-watts consumed at a given moment by the customer during the year, which constitutes the consumption ooefficient of the customer, at being a number of hours fixed by the central station and forming one of the bases of the tariff. If the annual consumption of the customer is lower or only equal to P 365 X n X W, the customer will have to pay for the current used during the year according to the higher tariff, or a sum 365 X n X W X T. If the annual consumption exceeds the product of 365 X n X lV P, so that it is equal to P Q, the customer pays the first P hecto-watt hours according to the higher tariff and the excess Q according to thelower tariff. He therefore pays an amount equal to P T Q t. Of course it should be understood that as the coefficient WV can only be determined after the complete consumption the above calculation cannot be made until the expiration of a fixed time-period (year, six months, the.) during which the consumption took place. The consumption coefficient WV is calculated by means of a maximum-ampere meter, which is the rebate-indicator, placed by the side of the electricity-meter, which may be any meter for fixed tariff. As it is understood that it is a question of distribution at a constant voltage V, letA be the number of amperes indicated at the end of the year by the rebatement-indicat-or, so that A X V (sinceAXV constitutes the watts) and the quantity of electricity which the customer had consumed before he is entitled to have the lower tariff i applied.

corresponding to the sum of 360 X n X T.

365 n AV For instance, at Brighton the terms are:

T O .0735. t O .0105. n 7} hour. V I 110.

. which is provided with the bulb 6 is in communication with the glass tube 8, closed at its lower end, which tube descends vertically in front ofthe apparatus and of a graduated scale 9 and forms the indicator-tube. The

U-tube is partly filled with a colored liquid, and the apparatus stands vertically. At the beginning of the year or of the time fixed, when as yet no current has expanded the air contained in the bulb 6, the liquid in the opposite branch will extend up to the level of the junction of the U-tube with the depending tube 8. When the current passes around the bulb 6, the heating which results produces an expansion of the air contained in the bulb 6. The liquid in the other (right-hand) branch is raised and falls into the indicator-tube S. The change of level produced is an indication of temperature obtained, and consequently of the intensity of the current. At the end of the year or of the predetermined period of time the height of the liquid that was discharged into' the indicator-tube 8 therefore gives a measure of the greatest intensity which the current attained at any moment.

during the year or during the fixed period of time. This method of tarification causes the customer to evenly divide his consumption over the greatest possible number of hours during the day; but it does not distinguish the hours when the current is less in demand, and therefore cheaper, from the hours when the current is more in demand, and therefore dearer. This arrangement permits of the completion of this method and of fixing the price of the hecto-watt at a time when it is cheaper-for instance, from midday until seven oclock in the evening which is the principle of the varying tarifi.

One could at once modify the meter by one of the devices already described; but the total annual consumption is not the principal basis in the tarification. This basis for the customer is the number WV, given by the customers indicator, and it ison this number that action should be taken. For example, the arrangement of shunt-circuit and means for opening and closing the same shown in Fig. 1 in connection with solenoid 3 may likewise be employed for shunting the coil 3 around the bulb 6 of Fig. 3, so that only part of the current will traverse said coil. At the hours when the demand for current is small the central station will send to the electromagnet-receiver a current which will actuate the shunt. The customer therefore will be in a position to consume during the said hours a maximum K V Without the indicator showing a higher consumption coefficient of V than the last coefficient of W obtained before the shunt was actuated; Several periods of the day may also be distinguished by intro ducing in derivation on the circuit of the metal coil 3 a rheostat of variable resistance in the same manner as indicated in Fig. 1 in connection with solenoid, so that only fractions K K K of the principal current pass through the coil, thus allowing a maximum consumption of K WV, K W, K W, respectively, without altering the numbers indicated by the rebate-indicator.

Finally, as was mentioned above, as regards certained the nature of my said invention and in What manner the same is to be performed, I declare that What I claim is 1. In a system for the distribution of electrical energy, a local circuit, a coil included in said circuit, means adapted to be actuated by said coil to control or indicate the consum ption of electrical energyby the local consumer, an auxiliary. or controlling circuit, and means adapted to be actuated thereby to vary the resistance to the passage of the current through the local circuit.

' 2. In a system for the distribution of electrical energy, a local circuit, a coil included in said circuit, means adapted to be actuated by said coil to control or indicate the consumption of electrical energy by the local consumer, a shunt about said coil, an auxiliary or controlling circuit, and means adapted to be actuated thereby to close the shuntcircuit.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CESAR RENE LOUBERY.

\Vitnesses:

EMILE LEVRET, EDWARD P. MAGLEAN. 

